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The Three Gorges Dam - China

A case study on The largest dam in the world

Date : 04/11/2013

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Samridh

Uploaded by : Samridh
Uploaded on : 04/11/2013
Subject : Geography

The Three Gorges Dam - China

The Three Gorges dam project was started in 1993 and completed in 2009. It is constructed in the mid-section of the Yangtze River, China`s longest. The dam itself is over 1.4 miles long and 185 meters high and is constructed from concrete. A 640-kilometre long reservoir is formed behind the dam. Although the Chinese government revealed the cost to build this dam as 25 billion USD, experts believe that the actual cost is somewhere between 40 to 60 billion USD. The three gorges dam is a multi-purpose hydro-development project producing comprehensive benefits mainly in tourism, power generation and navigation improvement.

It is believed that a record number of tourists (1.45 million) visited the dam in 2010. This figure is an increase from the previous year by 26%. Due to the largest reservoir (in the world) formed by the dam, there has been a significant increase in the number of cruise ships visiting the Yangtze. Cruise ships brought 860,000 tourists in 2010, an annual increase of about 40%. In the peak season there were about 20 ships visiting the dam daily. The Three Gorges Dam is one of five major tourist sites along the Yangtze River and also the country`s largest industrial tourist site. The increase in cruise ships is only possible because of the increase in the depth of the reservoir due to the dam. Tourism is on the rise because the Three Gorges dam is a man made marvel which attracts a lot of people. The several controversies surrounding the dam, has grabbed a lot of attention of the world and this acts as an advertisement in a way. Due to the increase in tourism there is a risk of increase in water pollution in the reservoir.

Being the world's largest hydro-electricity project, the Three Gorges dam contains 26 turbines. These turbines can produce 18.2GW of electricity. This amount of energy satisfies 3% of China's energy needs. Even though this is a low amount, for a country, which attains 80% of it's energy by burning coal this is a great step in reducing the negative impact on the environment. Around 10,000 tons of carbon monoxide emission is reduced with the aid of hydropower generated by this dam. Although hydro electricity is a source of "clean electricity", as it reduces our dependence on fossil fuels, there are now concerns that hydro electricity generation contributes to global warming, and may in many cases lead to more climate change than coal power stations. Prior to the three gorges dam, because of the low water levels of the Yangtze River, only 3,500-ton barges could transport. But now as a result of the dam, the upper Yangzi is navigable to 10,000-ton barges. This opens doors for great economic transactions from Chongqing to Hankou and further to Shanghai. The permanent navigation structures of the dam consist of a permanent ship lock and a ship lift. The ship lock is schemed as a double five way step flight locks, each lock chamber is capable of passing 10, 000 tons of barge fleet. The ship lift is designed, as a one step vertical rising type with a container that is capable of carrying one 3,000-ton passenger or cargo boat each time. With all these economic benefits, there is however an environmental hazard. Due to the dam it becomes almost impossible for the aquatic life to navigate past the dam. This creates an ecological imbalance, which can have severe consequences.

The three gorges dam has a lot of advantages for the Chinese. It's an efficient way of producing electricity. It has successfully save guarded people from the disastrous floods caused by the Yangtze each year. There has been a significant rise in economic generation for the cities along the coast of the Yangtze due to the accessibility of larger ships.

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